Total Energie undercut, loses out on Iraqi oilfields

France’s Total was disappointed to lose out in Iraq’s oil auction this week but was unwilling to bid aggressively to win deals on some of the world’s largest fields, its chief executive said on Saturday.

In an interview with Reuters, Christophe de Margerie said: “What we have lost is an opportunity to invest, and for this I’m unhappy. But I was not ready to pay the price.”

Total was a frontrunner to win the supergiant Majnoon field at the two-day auction of some of Iraq’s biggest oil assets. It negotiated for the field under the regime of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.